Bucks Holds Free Workshop for Girls to Learn Computer Coding

STEM Girlz/Girls Who Code takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, November 11 at the Newtown campus

Bucks County Community College invites girls in grades 6 to 12 to explore computer technology at STEM Girlz/Girls Who Code, a free all-day workshop focused on the fun of computer coding, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, November 11, at the Newtown Campus.

The event begins with a two-hour session on Java Programming. Bucks computer science professors will teach an introduction to the program and its applications, followed by a hands-on computer programming challenge using Java to find and fix errors in a broken program.

A brown-bag lunch follows, during which the Girls Who Code club will hold its meeting. The club is aimed at helping girls explore computer science. At each meeting, a woman who has made a difference in an area of science, technology, engineering or mathematics will address the students. Members also work collaboratively to learn coding and plan a project to be completed by the end of the academic year.

From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., students will learn the elements of HTML and CSS and use them to create a website. Using a text editor and web browser, students will edit web page templates and use them to make their own websites. Students should bring digital images and text that to include on their sites.

Girls Who Code is a national organization with more than 40,000 members founded to close the gender gap in the technology field. Its goal is to build the largest pipeline of future female engineers in the United States.

Although the November 11 event is free, registration is required at https://tinyurl.com/GWCNewtown. Participants can choose to attend just the morning or afternoon sessions or both. Those attending the entire day must bring a brown-bag lunch.

STEM Girlz/Girls Who Code takes place in room 127 of the Gateway Center on the campus at 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, Pa., 18940. To learn more, contact Arta Szathmary at Arta.Szathmary@bucks.edu.